Alix Kelly
Alix Kelly is an American musician currently performing as Young Al Kapon, and is best known for his work as the former instrumentalist for the American rock bands Letter to Yesterday and Vortex, as well as for his work with Tallahassee Gas Mask and Seaside Parade. Kelly usually plays the guitar for his bands, most commonly being in the position of the band's lead guitarist. However, he currently works gigs and performs a more hip-hop and rap influenced style. Career Early Career (2009-2013) Kelly started performing at the age of nine, recording himself playing the guitar and putting vocals to it, covering bands like Pink Floyd, and the Who. Kelly has said to have picked up music at a very young age, and is known to be able to play multiple instruments; including the guitar, piano, drums and bass. From the very start of his music, he made attempts at forming bands, which did not form out in the first few years until ''Vortex ''managed to become possible. For the first few years, Kelly recorded and performed his own music solo, managing to pick up new skills that would go on to help him in bands later on down the line. Vortex (2014-2015) Kelly performed for the cover band Vortex from 2014 until 2015 as their lead guitarist, having one hit original song called "Metal Holocaust." Tallahassee Gas Mask/Seaside Parade (2016-2017) Kelly joined forces with professional wrestler Zack Hardy on a project to make an alternative rock band, which later introduced the name "Tallahassee Gas Mask." In the band; Hardy would serve as the manager and back up lead vocalist/song writer, Crystal would serve as the lead vocalist, and Kelly would serve as the lead guitarist. After the loss of Crystal from the band, Hardy and Kelly made the decision to rename the band and bring it into a new form of rock other than the intended thrash type metal. The group would later be renamed "Seaside Parade" containing Hardy and himself. In March of 2017, Kelly left the group, leaving Hardy as the only original member. After the loss of Kelly, Hardy ended Seaside Parade, and went back to focus on his pro wrestling career, whilst also taking jabs at comedy for the first time. After the group's dissolution, Kelly proceeded to fall out of public music for a little while. Hiatus (2017) After Hardy announced the dissolution of Seaside Parade, Kelly was said to be making an attempt at joining the Marine's, which would involve him taking a hiatus from music to move forward with his new venture. Making an attempt to join the Marine's has since been stated as the reason for Kelly leaving Seaside Parade, but it has been made clear that Kelly would have liked to continue the group with Hardy had the new venture not taken too much time away from him. Kelly resigned from his position in the Marine's and has now returned to music, and it is reported that he and Hardy have started a new music project, unnamed at the moment. Letter to Yesterday project (2017-2018) After resigning from his position in the Marine's in mid-2017, it was reported that Kelly and Hardy were working on a new music project, and were in the midst of getting a deal with an independent music label. In September of 2017, Serra confirmed the rumors that he and Kelly were in the midst of forming a rock band, by giving his followers an unbiased choice (by not telling them which member was rooting for what name) between the band's name of Lincoln Underground or Letter to Yesterday. Letter to Yesterday won in a small landslide, giving the group a new name. Kelly and Serra are now in the midst of finalizing the formation of the band, and were currently working on their debut EP, "The 6284 EP." In September of 2018, Letter To Yesterday announced Kelly's departure from the band resulting from scheduling conflicts, officially dropping his name from the band's promotional material. E1 Music (2015-2018) Kelly is currently signed to E1 Music as an individual artist, and was a big part in making attempts at getting Letter To Yesterday and Tallahassee Gas Mask signed to the labels. Kelly made conscious efforts to get Letter To Yesterday signed to E1 Music, but Serra refused to sign, citing the want to self-release and self-produce the band's 6284 EP and any studio album's afterwards. Young Al Kapon and Transition into Hip Hop (November 2018-present) Following his departure from Letter To Yesterday, Kelly began experimenting with rap and hip hop before eventually repackaging himself as "Young Al Kapon", a stage name he would perform gigs under over the following months. In September 2019, Kelly began working on original material to release under the Young Al Kapon name, thus beginning his first venture into hip hop with original works. Influences and Instruments Kelly has noted a few bands being some of the biggest influences in his way of writing and performed genres; such as Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax. Though he takes a lot of influence from Gothic metal, heavy metal, hard rock and screemo, his majority preference comes in as a hippie/metal type. His preferred instrument is the guitar (be it electric or acoustic) and his preferred guitars come in at a Gibson, Ibinez, or Taylor. Clothing and Style Kelly has been known to sport denim jackets, typically with other band logos stitched onto them, which seems to be a staple of his clothing taste. His belt loops are usually accompanied by a metal chain on them, which has also become a recognizable feature of his wardrobe. Personal Life It has been made apparent that Kelly suffered from a rough childhood in the early years of his life, both through his music and word of mouth. Kelly grew up in a musical environment, learning to play multiple instruments such as the guitar, drums, piano and more at an early age in life. Kelly was in a relationship with Taiwanese model Jane Fong for the better part of 2017 until late in the year, when the couple had a falling out and eventually split. Kelly resides in Waterbury, Connecticut, USA. After he turned eighteen, he dropped out of high school to pursue getting his GED, whilst continuing to be involved with the Letter to Yesterday project. When producing his own music, Kelly has been known to use the FL Studio software.